Numerical Modelling of a Wood Pavement of a 13th Century Building

Abstract The present work is based on a numerical study of a wood pavement of a Pousada medieval da Gralheira in Vila Real, Portugal, which is an example of the constructed patrimony of Tras-os-Montes. The negligence in the preservation of historic buildings lead to the current advanced state of deterioration, which implies a complex rehabilitation process. The features obtained in a visual inspection of the building and experimental campaign in wood specimens, made it possible to develop and calibrate a numerical model of the wood floor between the ground and first floors, of the Inn, to analyze the behavior of the structure in terms of serviceability limit state, so with a numerical model, one can predict the real behavior of the structure. The numerical models are powerful tools to aid in the structural design.